From Rockefeller to Ford, See Forbes' 1918 Ranking Of The Richest People In America

This story appears in the September 28, 2017 issue of Forbes.
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John D. Rockefeller, America's first billionaire, enjoys a round of golf.Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Forbes began publishing its annual Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans in 1982, but the magazine started tracking the subject all the way back in 1918. The first-ever Forbes rich list, compiled by B.C. himself, surveyed "the foremost bankers in the country" to find America's 30 greatest fortunes—staggering sums, even by today's standards.*

Forbes

1. John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937)

Oil

Net worth in 1918: $1.2 BIL

Net worth in 2017: $21 BIL

“Mr. Rockefeller’s wealth,” B.C. Forbes wrote, “if it could be turned into cash and distributed equally—which it couldn’t—would give every man, woman and child in the United States $10 each.” Rockefeller gave away more than $500 million during his lifetime (worth at least $8 billion today), but his heirs are still worth an estimated $11 billion.

2. Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919)

Coke, steel

Net worth in 1918: $225 MIL

Net worth in 2017: $3.9 BIL

The Pittsburgher made a fortune selling coke to Andrew Carnegie—the raw material used in steelmaking, that is—and as a partner in Carnegie’s steel businesses.

3. Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919)

Steel

Net worth in 1918: $200 MIL

Net worth in 2017: $3.5 BIL

Carnegie wrote The Gospel of Wealth—a precursor to Gates and Buffett’s Giving Pledge—preaching, “He who dies thus rich, dies disgraced.” He donated an estimated $350 million (worth at least $5 billion today) to charity during his life.

4. George F. Baker (1840–1931)

Banking

Net worth in 1918: $150 MIL

Net worth in 2017: $2.6 BIL

Baker rose from bank teller to president of the First National Bank but remained fairly unknown away from Wall Street. “You have never once seen George F. Baker quoted in the newspapers,” B.C. Forbes noted. “His aversion to being interviewed is deeper than the Atlantic.” He took $5 million in 1924 (worth $72 million today) and single-handedly funded the creation of the Harvard Business School.

4. William Rockefeller (1841–1922)

Oil, railroads

Net worth in 1918: $150 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$2.6 BIL

John D.’s younger brother worked as a bookkeeper then as a produce merchant before going into the oil business.

6. Edward S. Harkness (1874–1940)

Oil

Net worth in 1918: $125 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$2.2 BIL

Inherited his millions from father Stephen, a Standard Oil partner, and brother Charles, who died childless in 1916.

6. J. Ogden Armour (1863–1927)

Packing

Net worth in 1918: $125 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$2.2 BIL

He took over Chicago meatpacking firm Armour & Co. upon his father’s death in 1901 and grew sales from $182 million to more than $1 billion. A post-World War I slump, bad investments and really bad investments ($50 million worth of German marks) wiped out nearly all of Armour’s fortune by the time of his death.

8. Henry Ford (1863–1947)

Automobiles

Net worth in 1918: $100 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.8 BIL

“Mr. Ford’s career is too well known to call for recapitulation,” B.C. Forbes wrote.

8. W.K. Vanderbilt (1849–1920)

Railroads

Net worth in 1918: $100 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.8 BIL

Grandson of Commodore Vanderbilt, he became the family patriarch in 1899 upon the death of older brother Cornelius II.

8. Ed. H.R. Green (1868–1936)

Banking

Net worth in 1918: $100 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.8 BIL

Son of “Witch of Wall Street” Hetty Green, he grew up in cheap boarding houses thanks to his miserly millionaire mother’s fear of kidnapping and refusal to pay property taxes. Green eventually inherited some of the fortune Hetty forged from frugal living and shrewd investments—and bought estates, yachts, automobiles and a private airport.

11. Mrs. E. H. Harriman (1851–1932)

Railroads

Net worth in 1918: $80 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.4 BIL

Mary Williamson Averell Harriman inherited $69 million when her railroad tycoon husband died in 1909.

12. Vincent Astor (1891–1959)

Real estate

Net worth in 1918: $75 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.3 BIL

Great-great grandson of John Jacob Astor, a fur trader considered America’s first multimillionaire. When Astor made B.C. Forbes’ rich list, he was overseas, fighting in World War I. Astor joined the Navy in 1917, despite his father going down with the Titanic, and loaned the government his yacht for use as a warship.

13. James Stillman (1850–1918)

Cotton, banking

Net worth in 1918: $70 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.2 BIL

Son of a cotton merchant, Stillman abandoned a medical education to join the family business, where he made millions before turning to banking.

13. Thomas F. Ryan 20 (1851–1928)

Transit, tobacco

Net worth in 1918: $70 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.2 BIL

A Wall Street financier who consolidated Manhattan streetcar lines into America’s first holding company; his tobacco interests were rolled into James Duke’s giant American Tobacco Co. The F stands, fittingly, for Fortune.

13. Daniel Guggenheim(1856–1930)

Mining, smelting

Net worth in 1918: $70 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.2 BIL

He made a fortune buying mining properties in the late 19th century with his father, Meyer, and brothers. One of them, younger brother Solomon, founded the New York museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

13. Charles M. Schwab(1862–1939)

Steel

Net worth in 1918: $70 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.2 BIL

No relation to the other Charles Schwab, your broker. This Schwab rose from stake driver to president of Carnegie Steel, then U.S. Steel, then Bethlehem Steel. He lavished money on friends and family; died broke.

13. J.P. Morgan Jr. (1867–1943)

Banking

Net worth in 1918: $70 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1.2 BIL

Son and spitting image of the J.P. Morgan.

18. Mrs. Russell Sage (1828–1918)

Banking

Net worth in 1918: $60 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1 BIL

Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage inherited the $60 million when her husband, a notoriously close-fisted Wall Street financier, died in 1906; she spent the rest of her life giving the money to charity.

18. Cyrus H. McCormick II (1859–1936)

Farm machinery

Net worth in 1918: $60 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1 BIL

His father invented the reaper, transforming farming and helping drive the industrial revolution by freeing farm laborers to work in factories.

18. Joseph Widener (1872–1943)

Transit

Net worth in 1918: $60 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1 BIL

His father made a fortune in trolley cars; he, as owner of New York’s Belmont Park, was more into Thoroughbred racing.

18. Arthur Curtiss James (1867–1941)

Mining, railroads

Net worth in 1918: $60 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1 BIL

He inherited mining millions and built a rail empire covering a quarter of the U.S.

18. Nicholas F. Brady (1878–1930)

Transit

Net worth in 1918: $60 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$1 BIL

His father amassed New York transit lines—and electric utilities that became part of Con Edison.

23. Jacob h. Schiff (1847–1920)

Banking

Net worth in 1918: $50 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$875 MIL

A prominent investment banker, Schiff funded the railroad boom and the Japanese side of the Russo-Japanese War.

23. James B. Duke (1857–1925)

Tobacco

Net worth in 1918: $50 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$875 MIL

With about 90% of the market, Duke’s American Tobacco Co. was the Standard Oil of cigarettes. His $100 million endowment ($1.4 billion in today’s dollars) created Duke University.

23. George Eastman (1854–1932)

Cameras

Net worth in 1918: $50 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$875 MIL

The man who made Instagram possible, Eastman’s affordable Kodak cameras brought photography to the masses. Suffering from a spinal disease, Eastman committed suicide in 1932. His note: “My work is done. Why wait?”

23. Pierre S. du Pont II (1870–1954)

Powder

Net worth in 1918: $50 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$875 MIL

Explosives made the Du Ponts rich, but he helped transform the business into a diversified chemical giant; served as president of GM.

23. Louis F. Swift (1861–1937)

Packing

Net worth in 1918: $50 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$875 MIL

His father pioneered the use of the refrigerated railcar.

23. Julius Rosenwald (1862–1932)

Mail orders

Net worth in 1918: $50 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$875 MIL

The mail-order millionaire bought into Sears & Roebuck in 1895 and grew it into what was once the world’s largest retailer.

23. Mrs. Lawrence Lewis (1895–1937)

Oil

Net worth in 1918: $50 MIL

Net worth in 2017:$875 MIL

Louise Clisby Wise Lewis’ aunt was the widow of Standard Oil partner and Florida developer Henry Flagler. Wall Street speculators got it wrong: Lewis was not her aunt’s principal heir. Instead, she received some Florida property plus $200,000 a year until age 40 and then $5 million outright. Impressive for 1918 but a fraction of what B.C. Forbes estimated.

23. Henry Phipps (1839–1930)

Steel

Net worth in 1918: $50 MIL

Net worth in 2017: $875 MIL

A partner and boyhood friend of Andrew Carnegie.

*Fortunes have been converted to 2017 dollars using CPI inflation adjustment; other methods—which apply a person's share of his or her day's economy to today's much, much larger economy—yield higher estimates, including as much as $340 billion for John D. Rockefeller.

I cover the most successful entrepreneurs doing the biggest deals on the planet. As Forbes' deputy wealth editor I write web and magazine stories about billionaires, plus help put together The Forbes 400 and World's Billionaires lists. My reporting has taken me everywhere fr...